United nations

A “dramatic” rise in the number of websites and social media platforms hosting racist and gay hate content is enabling neo-Nazis and other hate groups to amplify their messages, an expert from the United Nations has warned. Tendayi Achiume, the UN’s special rapporteur for racism, said there had been a 600 per cent increase in …

The United States has stopped issuing visas to unmarried same-sex partners of diplomats and staff of US-based international organizations, including the UN. The policy means unmarried partners of LGBTIQ staff at the United Nations, the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund must effectively now get married before December 31 or leave the country within …

The Queensland government is set to introduce legislation in the next week that would put a stop to so-called “forced transgender divorces” in the state. Under Queensland law, couples who enter an opposite-sex marriage before one partner transitions are forced to divorce before the transgender partner can update the sex marker on their birth certificate. …

By Paula Gerber, Monash University It took a long time, but on Thursday Australia became the 26th country to achieve marriage equality. The LGBTI community is euphoric and relieved with this hard-fought victory. But there is also trauma from the drawn-out postal survey campaign, which saw attacks on rainbow families and communities. It left many …

Australia’s postal survey on same-sex marriage is “not an acceptable decision-making method”, the United Nations Human Rights Committee has said. In a report, the committee recommended Australia urgently legislate for same-sex marriage regardless of what result is announced next week. “The Committee is concerned about the explicit ban on same-sex marriage in the Marriage Act …

Two men have spoken out about an alleged crackdown on the LGBTI community in the European country of Azerbaijan. One of the men, who remained anonymous, said he was detained for nine days and tortured. “They gave me electric shocks,” he said in an interview with Radio Free Europe. “They beat me with a stick …

UN officials have condemned the recent mass arrests of LGBTI people in Azerbaijan, Egypt and Indonesia, saying that the countries’ authorities violated international law by detaining, mistreating and torturing them. About 80 people in Azerbaijan, 50 in Egypt and 50 in Indonesia countries were arrested, spokesperson for the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights Rupert …